Visiting Faculty Appointments

"Visiting" appointments are generally made where an individual with a faculty appointment at another academic institution will perform short-term temporary (e.g., typically for one year or less) faculty duties at UNC-Chapel Hill.  

Such appointments may also be authorized for individuals who may not presently hold faculty credentials at another institution but who are otherwise qualified for faculty rank and for which there is a special need by the Department/School for an appointment of less than one year and for which a competitive recruitment will be waived by the University's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Office.

Unless a faculty appointment is retained at another institution, visiting appointments are not appropriate for prospective faculty nominees who are arriving on campus "early" pending final approvals of their expected appointment at UNC-Chapel Hill. Other alternatives to address these situations are described within these guidelines.

The following time limits are relevant for Visiting appointments:

• Visiting faculty appointments generally may not exceed one-year at a time in duration.
• An additional consecutive appointment for a one-year or less period is permissable when the needs of the Department/School justify such continuation.
• Visiting appointments in any circumstance are limited to a maximum of two consecutive appointments (four consecutive semesters) of one year after which a minimum of one semester's break in service from the University is required before another visiting appointment may be initiated for this same individual.

Visiting faculty members are not eligible for benefits except in extenuating circumstances in which a faculty member has retained his/her faculty rank at another academic institution and whose proposed tenure-track or tenured appointment at our campus is pending final (e.g., Board) approval and a preceding "visiting" appointment is requested by the Department Chair and approved through the approprite administrative channels. In these extenuating circumstances, the Department Chair should address a memo to Academic Personnel in the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost after obtaining the endorsement of the Dean.

In all other circumstances, visiting appointments do not convey benefits. One-year fixed term appointments should be considered for any other situations in which a Department/School needs to employ a faculty member with benefits.

Departments wishing to employ faculty members with benefits arriving "early" whose tenure-track or tenured appointment are pending final  approvals and no longer will hold faculty rank at another institution are processed using an interim one-year fixed term appointment. This one-year fixed term appointment may later be amended to the proposed tenure-track or tenured appointment once final approvals for the permanent appointment are confirmed using an EPAWeb Rank Correction action.

When processing a one-year fixed term appointment under these conditions, the normal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Office waiver of recruitment is not required as long as this individual's appointment as a tenured or tenured track faculty member has received prior EEO Office approval. Instead, the department should document in the EPAWeb New Employment action comments for the fixed term appointment that it is being conveyed pending final approval of a proposed tenure-track or tenured appointment. The specific rank of the tenure track or tenured appointment pending approval and the EEO log # of that recruitment must be disclosed.

Departments and Schools are encouraged not to initiate "early" arrivals of faculty members pending tenure track or tenured appointments until all approvals have been granted  at the highest level of committee review required for the proposed rank by University procedures (e.g., School-level APT, HSAC, or University APT).  In the event a fixed term appointment or visiting appointment is conveyed at an earlier stage, it must be made clear to the prospective appointee that higher-level approvals are not assured and that the maximum guarantee of employment is the one-year fixed term or the visiting appointment. Please exercise caution in this regard so as not to encourage individuals to prematurely terminate appointments at other institutions or incur moving and relocation expenses prior to their tenure-track or tenured appointment being officially approved. 

For reference, the basis for visiting faculty appointments is contained in Section 2.b.c.(5) on page 7. of the University's Tenure Code which notes:

"Persons other than regular members of the faculty may be appointed as visiting members of the faculty with rank designations, prefixed by the word 'Visiting,' appropriate to their status in their regular employment. Such appointments shall be for a term of not more than one year. One successive appointment for a term of not more than one year may be made. Appointments are made in accordance with the procedures for appointment of an instructor. During such terms of appointment the visiting faculty member may not be suspended, discharged or terminated except upon the grounds and by the procedures provided respectively in Sections 3 and 6 hereof."